Hoosier Strongman Contest

My friend, Jan, will have to return to Indy in September.  He won the Masters division of  a Strongman competition yesterday and is qualified for the National Tournament.  The box contains the trophy. A battleaxe. 

The walk to breakfast.

L to R, Tom, Steve, Mark, Kevin, and Steve.  Jan was getting ready to lift heavy objects. Even heavier than the 18 Wheeler Breakfast at La Peep. I think half of us had the French toast, sausage, egg and potato offering.

Don't think these ducks provided the eggs.

Time for the games to begin.

Five events. Above is the yoke. If memory serves, 350 pounds on the contraption. My memory failed. 550 pounds. Wow.  Carry it back and forth, 40 feet?  Lots of guys had to put it down, one competitor could not even lift it.  Jan, ran with it.

Next, the axle.

I found what they did to the chairs after the Hoosier Dome was torn down.

The Hoosier Strength Challenge had 4 events.  The Strongman,  Power Lifting, Body Building, or what Tom dubbed, "The Fake Tan People", and Arm Wrestling.

Excuse me, "Armsport"

For some reason, we left the Strongman area when the female body builders began to pose.

Next time I buy I small car, I am demanding proof it was not use in a Strongman Competition.

Video

It was kind of a four ring circus.  Nearby exhibit halls had tumbling competitions, and what we first thought was a magic show. After all, that's what the signs said.  Turns out "Magic"  is some sort of video game.  Kids sitting across from each other with hand held devices.  Tom, a Comp Sci guy himself, referred to it as the "Nerd Hall".  In the Westin, signs for a Forensics Tournament.   I almost forgot, the State Republican Convention.  That must have ended Friday. I had seen a lot of red ribboned delegates on Friday, none Saturday.  Nearby, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Indiana-Kentucky high school all-star basketball game. Over 6000 fans, I saw in Sunday's paper.

We took a break in a sports bar at the Marriott across from the Convention Center.

While eating nachos, some having soda, others hoisting beer, we mistimed our return to the competition and missed Jan in the Farmers Walk.   Where competitors carry an unwieldy set of weights in each hand across the room, set that down, pick up a half barrel, and lug it the other way.  The beer in the barrel is replaced with concrete.

Final event. Stones

No one put five stones on the shelf. Except Jan.   After time expired, one minute, 2 seconds.  His win in that event, coupled with his win in the Yoke, and strong finishes in the other three events, gave him the Masters Title. That division starts at age 40. Jan is my age.

We hoped Jan, who we call Whitehead, and his lifting buddies call Swede, would get the helmet.

Not to be

We helped celebrate at Champions, the sports bar in the Marriot.

There a lot of tasty local brews in Indy.

One of the Strongmen, besides Jan, joined us.  More were expected, but it turned out they went to Champs, not Champions. 

On Friday, I had noticed a Bucca di Beppo in the neighborhood.  One has been around the corner from my house for years.  Never been there. But I knew they serve large, shareable portions.  Once again, the boys took my dining suggestion.

Its no Madison, but Indianapolis has a nice dome.

We had Ceaser salad, garlic bread, cheese bread, pizza, spaghetti with shrimp, and mostioli  (sp?)with sausage.

After dinner, Steve R. who had been in Indy month ago, said he knew of a local blues bar.

Knew of, not where.

Never found it, so we went back to Champions for the Heat-Celtics. Turned out be were on the wrong street for the blues bar.  The night ended with maybe half of the group talking in the Westin lobby. Last word I heard we would reconvene there at 9 am.